


BIDDLE-EHYMES 




jPN 6371 
.P7 
Copy 1 




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COPYRIGHT OFFICE. 

No registration of title of this book 
as a preliminary to copyright protec- 
tion has been found. 

Forwarded to Order Division ^^-•X/-£-^--?„-_ 

' (Date) 

(6, i, 1906—2,000. ) <J^ £ 




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Book 



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'Published for and supplied by 
H. M. CALDWELL CO. 

PUBLISHERS 
NEW YORK and BOSTON 




^j^ S. (h*Xt t 



RIDDLE-RHYMES 

BEING LII WrT-WAKING PUZZLE-POEMS 
FOR CHILDREN WITH THINKING-CAPS 
INVENTED. VERSIFIED AND ARRANGED 
FOR A YEAR OF SATURDAYS BY THE 
RDDLE-RHYME MAKER 



1 



Pictures and Decorations 
by H. P. Barnes 




PUBLISHED AT SALEM, MASS., BY 
SAMUEL EDSON CASSINO & SON 



?N 


637/ 




T7 


COPYRIGHT. 1905 




BY S. E. CASSINO 




RlBBARYofCGNetRESS 








Two Copies Received 




- / 




MAh 11 1907 








Copyright Entry 








CUSS XXc, No. 








COPY B. 






Received i" 




Copyright 






" 







o 



J 



To 
the Honor-List and Prize- Winner Children 

of "Little Folks" 

these LII Guessing-Poems are Dedicated 

by the Riddle-Rhyme Maker 



Q 



A WORD FOR THE FATHERS AND 
MOTHERS 

THE first riddle was made, and maybe guessed, by 
prehistoric man. 
I don't know what that first riddle was, for sure. It 
may have been one of the lost riddles of old time — or it 
may have survived, and you and I may have guessed it 
in our young days, as the children, mayhap, are guessing 
it today in its twentieth century form. 

Today the boys and gfirls are asking each other the 
familiar riddle : 

" What is it that goes first on four foot, then on two 
feet, and last of all on three feet ? " i 

Likewise the little Greeks of Sophocles' time repeated 
an old riddle of Theban legend, the riddle the Sphinx 
propounded to CEdipus : 

"What being has four feet, two feet and three feet; 
only one voice ; but whose feet vary, and when it has 
most is weakest ? " 



! 



FOR THE FATHERS AND MOTHERS 

Twenty-four centuries intervene between these two 
versions of the riddle — and yet it has not greatly changed. 

Now the Sphinx did not invent it — and I have no doubt 
it is older than the man who invented the Sphinx — older 
than the earliest civilizations of Egypt and the East. 

And since its answer is Man — man who goes first on 
hands and knees, then erect on two feet, and in old age 
hobbles with a cane — it may well have been contem- 
porary with the earliest men, in those prehistoric days 
when the third foot was not a gold-headed cane, but a 
gnarled club of defense and offense as well as support — 
indeed, it may have been the very first riddle itself ! 

Whatever be the truth about the old riddle whose 
answer is Man, it is certain that riddles have been popu- 
lar in all ages and among all peoples. 

Even Solomon, according to Josephus, once had a 
riddle-guessing contest with Hiram, king of Tyre — in 
which he won a considerable prize, only to lose it again 
to a subject of Hiram's who appears to have been a 
better riddle-maker than either of the kings. The Queen 
of Sheba, too, attempted to pose Solomon with enigmas. 

If we may believe Plutarch, the poet Homer actually 
died of chagrin at not being able to guess this riddle of 
two boys who went hunting: 



2 



/ 

FOR THE FATHERS AND MOTHERS 

" All they caught they flung away, and all they could 
not catch they carried home." 

And the poet Virgil has depicted a trial of wits be- 
tween shepherds. 

Riddles are found in the Koran and in the Bible — 
Samson's riddle being of course familiar to every one : 

" Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the 
strong came forth sweetness.'* Qudges 14: 14.) 

And there are ancient collections of riddles in Arabic 
and in Persian. 

Riddles in poetic form were common in Greece six 
hundred years before Christ — Cleobulus, one of the 
" Seven Sages," having been celebrated for his metrical 
enigmas. 

In the Middle Ages, the art of riddle-making was 
further developed. Riddles were even used to convey 
sacred truths, as in this : 

" Demand : What bare the best burden that ever was 
borne ? 

" Response : The ass that carried our Lady when she 
fled with our Lord into Egypt." 

French, German and English riddle-books of this 



FOR THE FATHERS AND MOTHERS 

period still exist in MS., and some were printed at an 
early date. 

During the Reformation, the diversion of riddle-making 
and riddle-guessing suffered a brief eclipse, but in the 
seventeenth century it emerged again into the radiance 
of popular favor, especially in France, where poetical 
riddles became the rivals of the sonnets and madrigals of 
the day. Indeed, so fashionable was the riddle that the 
" Mercure de France " printed a fortnightly collection, and 
the man who guessed them achieved social distinction. 
Learned treatises on the art of riddle-making were pub- 
lished, and the French riddle-makers included such bril- 
liant writers as Boileau, Voltaire and Rousseau. 

The poets, indeed, have been writers of metrical cha- 
rades and other enigmas from Theocritus to Schiller ; and 
among the later English may be counted Cowper and 
Praed. 

So the Protean riddle — the riddle of a thousand 
shapes — has come down through the ages. And it 
continues to flourish among all peoples, from the Zulus of 
South Africa to the peasants of Northern Russia, among 
savages and among the highly civilized — appearing and 
re-appearing, in the simple old forms, and in forms new, 
elaborated, obscure. 



FOR THE FATHERS AND MOTHERS 



One might go further, and trace the evolution of the 
enigma in the larger modern literature, from Shakespeare 
to the creator of Sherlock Holmes. One might claim 
the denouement of " The Merchant of Venice " as Portia's 
solution of the riddle of granting the letter of the law and 
at the same time effectually blocking its fulfilment. One 
might point out that half the fiction of the day is based 
on some blind intricate problem, where the reader takes 
the thread put in his hand by the author and follows it 
through labyrinthine ways to the hidden secret at the end. 
And the popular detective novels are confessedly riddles — 
riddles much ramified, it is true, but riddles all the same. 
From this point of view, the author of the Sherlock 
Holmes stories is an arch-propounder of conundrums, and 
Sherlock Holmes himself the apotheosis of the guesser. 

Guesser ! — guessing ! — that is the point to which I 
have all along been leading up. For I wish to empha- 
size the fact that riddle-guessing is not merely an amuse- 
ment, but an intellectual exercise and development. 

Guessing! — it is not " guessing" at all — it is a quick- 
ening act of perception, of imagination, of comparison, of 
co-ordination, of reasoning — in brief, of thinking ! 

Not long ago I attended a teachers* meeting, where 
sixteen teachers endeavored to answer the question of the 



FOR THE FATHERS AND MOTHERS 

day's topic : " What is the greatest need of my school ? " 
These " greatest needs," it appeared, were largely mate- 
rial, or verging on the immaterial, ranging from a " diction- 
ary " to a " dipper," from " order M to an "organ." At 
the last a teacher rose and said with some earnestness 
that the greatest need in her school was " something to 
make the children think ! " 

Ah ! " Something to make the children think ! M 

Now I do not imagine that this need is confined to the 
children of one little district school. Is it not rather 
universal ? 

Somebody has said that the way to learn to read is — 
to read ! And it is equally true that the way to learn to 
think is — to think ! But how shall we start the process 
when the child hangs back, when the little mind 
balks ? How shall we stimulate the power of attack ? 
How shall we establish the habit of initiative, the habit 
of thinking ? 

You may know ways. Somebody else may know 
others. I have discovered one way myself. But all 
these ways must lead, not drive, must allure, not force. 
All these ways must begin with something interesting to 
think about — something that interests the child. 

Once establish the habit of attack, the habit of think- 

O J 



FOR THE FATHERS AND MOTHERS 

ing, in the face of interesting things, and inevitably there 
will come confidence, and readiness of initiative, in the 
face of the uninteresting and the difficult. 

I said I had discovered one way to make children 
think. 

Several years ago I was led to write a series of riddles 
in verse, including charades and various sorts of puzzle- 
poems, for a dozen numbers of " Little Folks ." The 
demand obliged me to write a second series the follow- 
ing year, a third the year after — and the fourth is now 
under way. From the several series this little book of 
Riddle-Rhymes has been collected. 

Now, during these years, month by month hundreds of 
letters, thousands altogether, have come to me from chil- 
dren all over the country — telling how much they en- 
joyed the Riddle-Rhymes, reporting their answers, and 
often giving the successive steps in the solution and the 
reasons for their conclusions. 

These thousands of letters have emphasized two 
things : the great interest of the children in the Riddle- 
Rhymes, and the educational value of the intellectual 
exercise of solving them. 

At first I was impressed by the pleasure-giving ; but 
soon I was more impressed by the evident brain-training, 



FOR THE FATHERS AND MOTHERS 

the development of the power to reason. I felt I could 
give that teacher of the little sixteenth district school a 
hint or two. 

And so I say I have discovered one interesting thing 
that will make children think. 

If you have any doubt of this, the next time you see a 
little child hanging back from some dull problem, in 
arithmetic, for instance, just substitute the candle riddle of 
Mother Goose. Note how the numb mind becomes 
alert, how the balking brain springs to the initiative — how 
the child thinks! And when the answer is guessed — that 
is, reasoned out — ask what the " red nose" is, what the 
" white petticoat,'* and why " the longer she stands the 
shorter she grows." 

You may be surprised, as I have been, by the logic of 
a little child's mind. 



. 



A WORD FOR THE CHILDREN 



HOW many weeks are there in a year ? 
Fifty-two, do you say? Yes; that is right — 
and that is why there are LII Riddle-Rhymes in this 
book — because in fifty-two weeks there are fifty-two 
Saturdays, and, as the title-page says, the book is made 
for a " year of Saturdays." 

Now, a book of Riddle-Rhymes is not like a book 
of stories. It *s a bit like a box of candy — you don't 
want to take it all at once. 

Besides, if you take only one Riddle-Rhyme each 
Saturday, and read it and guess out the answer, the book 
will be new for a whole year. In that way, too, you 
will see what the title-page means when it says the Rid- 
dle-Rhymes are "arranged for a year of Saturdays" — 
you will see that many of the Riddle-Rhymes fit exactly 
the seasons, and even the days, when you come to them. 

Of course, if you are very fond of riddles, and charades, 
and puzzle-poems, you can read as many a day as you 



Q 



A WORD FOR THE CHILDREN 

like — and then you can take them up again, and try 
them on your friends and playmates, and enjoy the book 
the whole year round in that way. 

Having said so much about the title-page, perhaps 
I ought to say a word about the dedication — " to 
the Honor-List and Prize- Winner Children of 'Little 
Folks.* M 

!" Little Folks," as some of you may know, is the maga- 
zine " for youngest readers, little listeners, and lookers at 
pictures." 

Now, I have just been telling your fathers and mothers 
that I made these Riddle-Rhymes first for "Little 
Folks," and that thousands of children have written me 
letters about them, telling how they liked them, and how 
they guessed them, and their answers. For several years, 
each month, the names of those who sent correct answers 
have been published in an Honor List. Besides this 
u honorable mention," three or four times a year prizes, 
twenty perhaps, have been offered, not for correct answers 
only, but for the best drawings of the answer, or the best 
little essays about the answer. Well; those boys and 
girls who sent the right answers, and those who sent the 
best drawings and essays, are the "Honor-List and 
Prize- Winner Children " of the dedication. 



10 



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f 



A WORD FOR THE CHILDREN 

In my talk with your fathers and mothers, I have said 
something about the way riddles have been told, and 
guessed, and liked, by all peoples from the earliest times ; 
and about famous riddles ; and about famous men and 
women who made or guessed them. Perhaps your fathers 
and mothers will talk with you about these things — about 
riddles that were told long ago, before the first Christmas, 
and which are still told today. 

There is one old riddle which many of you know as 
well as your fathers and mothers, or your grandfathers and 
grandmothers. Those who don't will like to find it here. 
It is from Mother Goose. It is this : 

" Little Nancy Netticoat, 
With a white petticoat 

And a red nose — 
The longer she stands 

The shorter she grows. " 

I wonder how many minutes it will take those who 
never read this before to guess it ! 

One thing I want to say right here* 

Don't ever give a thing up because it seems hard at 
first. You all know the story of Bruce and the spider — 
if you don't, that 's another thing to ask your fathers and 
mothers. 



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A WORD FOR THE CHILDREN 
Don't be discouraged. You know the old song : 

" If at first you don't succeed, 
Try, try, try again ! " 

The harder you have to work or study, the gladder you 
will be when you do succeed. 

Among those thousands of letters of which I have 
told you, were letters from children only four, five and 
six years old — and they sent the right answers, too, 
though some had to print their little letters all in funny 
big capitals with a lead pencil. 

When you take up a new Riddle-Rhyme, first read it 
through carefully. If you have n't guessed it when you 
reach the last word, read it again, a verse or a line at a 
time. If it is a charade, read over the " my first,** " my 
second," " my third," sections one at a time, and think 
what each section, each word, means — sometimes a 
single word will hold the clue to the whole answer. 
When you think you have the right word, or syllable, see 
if it fits, not only the part of the description that gave you 
the hint, but all of it. 

For example : if the description says something has a 
back and teeth, don't be sure at a jump that it is a 
child — for a dog has a back and teeth, too — and so 



12 



A WORD FOR THE CHILDREN 

has a comb, and a rake, and a harrow. If it also says 
the something has no feet or hands, or that the teeth are 
white as pearls, or iron teeth, or wooden, or of ivory, 
why, then you should be able to guess closer the truth. 

Remember that several things may fit one or more 
parts of the description, but that the right thing must fit 
all parts, every word. 

If you come to a new form of riddle, one you don't 
know how to solve, ask your fathers and mothers to show 
you the way — and then try another of the same kind 
by yourself. 

And now I will tell you one or two little secrets about 
the pages that follow. 

When you have read the first Riddle-Rhyme — and 
likewise each of the others — you will see in the lower 
right corner of the page three letters : P. T. O. 

It you have n't guessed the answer, don't mind the 
P. T. O. — just try again. But if you think you have 
it, or if after trying and trying again you give it up, and 
come finally to the P. T. O. once more, why, then I 
advise you to do it — that is, Please Turn Over ! 

And when you turn the leaf, you will see at the very 
top an interrogation mark — which means just what you 
were saying as you turned the leaf : " What can it be ? " 



13 



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A WORD FOR THE CHILDREN 

And then you will see a line running down and wind- 
ing up in a coil in the middle — like the tangle the Rid- 
dle-Rhyme seemed when you could n't guess it. But 
if you follow the coiling line to the centre, you '11 find it 
is not a tangle ; you '11 find that it unwinds, and you will 
follow the easy curve down to the bottom of the page, 
and there you will see — the Answer ! 

The exclamation point at the end of the curved line 
means the way you say the answer if you have guessed 
right, and also the way you say it if you did n't guess it 
but wonder how it was you could n't. 

Last of all, there is the cover — which perhaps ought 
to have come first. What I have here been telling you 
will give some hints at the meaning of the cover de- 
sign — but I have n't said a word to you about the Sphinx — 
you might ask your fathers and mothers about that. 

And now the Riddle-Rhyme Maker hopes you all 
will have good times with the book, and that it will help 
make merry even more than a "y ear of Saturdays." 
And if ever any of you should want to tell how many 
of the LII Riddle-Rhymes you guessed without the help 
of the P. T. O., why, just write, in care of the publish- 
ers, to the Riddle-Rhyme Maker, 



14 



RIDDLE-RHYMES 



J 



RIDDLE-RHYMES 



I 



WITHOUT beginning, without end, 
Howe'er I go, I always bend; 
Where'er I go, companions nine, 
One, two, or more, are often mine : 
And less am I than e'en the least, 
Yet, one and all, they are increased 
Ten -fold if I beside them stand, 
The humblest one of all the band ! 



o 



P. T. O. 




Zero, or Cipher (0) 



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II 

IT 'S named as if it grew upon a tree, 
Or were two pages in a book, 
Yet mostly it abounds when trees are bare, 

And can't be read though close you look - 
And though it 's always being turned, alack, 
It 's very apt to find itself turned back ! 



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P. T. O. 




A New Leaf 



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A 



III 

T HAVE a head, 
1 But no body below, 
And only one leg 
On which to go ; 

Yet I can trot, 

And can gallop and run, 
As if I had four 

Instead of one ; 

For when I go 

It is never alone, 
But with two small legs 

Besides my own. 



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P. T. O. 



9 




Hobby-horse 



IV 



MY * first * is in snow, but not in rain ; 
My * second ' in knot, and also in skein ; 
My * third ' is in rat, but not in mouse ; 
My * fourth * is in hut, but not in house ; 
My * fifth * in pencil, and also in pen ; 
My * sixth * in slate, and in sponge again. 
On my ' whole,' all shod in shining steel, 
You glide like a bird, or a boat on its keel, 
You curve, you turn, in a thousand ways, 
In the merry sport of the winter days. 



© 



P. T. O . 




S-k-a-t-e-s 



THEY go in pairs, like gloves and hose, 
Yet have no fingers and no toes ; 
And, 'most as bad, whatever comes, 
Alas, " their fingers are all thumbs ! M 



L_ 



^5J P. T. O. 




Mittens 



Y 



VI 



MY * first * is one-half of a hollow 'twixt hills ; 
My ' second ' two-thirds of a fowl ; 
My * third * is four-fifths of a sort of string ; 

My ' whole,* if you Ve wise as an owl, 
You '11 guess — and better, much better, you may 
Get the answer itself on a February day. 



27 P.T.O. 




Val-en-tine 



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VII 

MY ' first ' is what the cleanly do, 
And so, of course, you do it, too ; 
My * second ' rhymes with ring and sing, 
New meaning to a verb will bring ; 
My * third * *s the measure used alway 
By those who deal in coal and hay. 

My * whole * was one both good and great, 
True boy to home, true man to state ; 
He was the first when right meant war ; 
And first when peace the new land saw ; 
And first today, as he was then, 
Within the hearts of his countrymen ! 



o 



P. T. O 



' 




Wash-ing-ton 



VIII 



A 



MY * first ' is a fruit, red, yellow, or black, 
By girls and by boys well liked but, alack, 
Liked better by robins and various birds, 
Who gather the crop without any words ; 
On my * second * my ' first ' by a slim stem hangs ; 
My ' whole ' a small hatchet hit terrible bangs, 
A hatchet held fast in a famous boy's hand, 
Which made it the famousest one in the land. 



Q 



P. T. O. 



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Cherry-tree 



IX 



WHAT day is least of all the days, 
And why the least, for works and plays — 
The day of all the months and years 
With fewest smiles and fewest tears ? 



I © 



P. T. O. 



J 




February 29th 



X 



I MAKE the lakes like marble floors ; 
I bridge the brooks for children's feet ; 
I gather in the winter's cold, 

And drive away the summer's heat. 



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P. T. O.J 



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Ice 



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XI 



MY * first ' lies somewhere in a thicket, 
Or in the bushes hides ; 
My * second ' *s carried in a basket, 
Or in a watch abides ; 

My ' third ' rides out in every carriage, 

Or in a parlor car ; 
My ■ fourth,' in truth, is in mid-ocean, 

Or in some whale afar. 

My ' whole ' *s a shy and timid creature, 
Most swift of foot, and — well, 

If of its ears and tail I told you, 
Its name you *d quickly tell ! 




P. T. O. 




H- 



a-r-e 



•\ 



I 



\ 



XII 

I ROAM the world, 
And surely every one 
My voice has heard, 

Since first the world began ; 
Yet never one, 

By star or moon or sun, 
My form has seen — 

Nor child, nor oldest man. 




P. T. O. 




Wind 



1 



XIII 

WERE 1 to say each hour has sixty, 
There *d be but little riddle in it — 
For every one, from five to fifty, 

Would guess its name in half a ! 



v. 



SI 



P. T. O. 




Minute 



XIV 

MY * first ' is made of a million, 
And a million times a billion, 
Yes, more than ever you reckoned, 
Of the small things that are my ' second/ 

My ' second ' are round and shiny, 
And sometimes, too, they are briny — 
The briny kind roll down faces, 
And the ancients caught them in vases. 

My ' whole ' in a drouth bring gladness, 
In seasons of wet bring sadness — 
They flood the lowlands and cellars, 
And open ten thousand umbrellas. 



v^. 



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P. T. O. 



J 




Rain-drops 



I 



XV 

AM a little thing that goes, 

From dawn to dark, from dark to dawn : 
I always go, I never stop, 

Yet never am I gone. 



The flowers and birds are glad of me ; 

I laugh and sing along my way : 
I always go, I ne'er come back, 

And yet I always stay. 



45 



P. T. O. 



J 



9 




Brook 



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"\ 



XVI 

NOW in and out of rings and holes, 
With fellows gay, it swiftly rolls, 
Or lightly hops ; 
Then into bags and pockets small, 
With its companions one and all, 
It quickly pops. 



Q. 



P. T. O. 



r 



XVII 

MY ' first * is the color that oftentimes lies 
In a golden-haired little child's eyes — 
In the sky just after an April shower — 
In the dear forget-me-not flower ; 
My ' second * is something that flies in the air, 
And lives in a nest somewhere ; 
My ' whole ' is a kind of my ' second * that sings, 
And carries my ' first * on its wings. 



49 P. T. O. 




Blue-bird 



XVIII 

MY ' first * is one of twelve that make 
The time 'twixt birthdays two — 
One of the twelve that come and go 
And leave their gifts with you. 

My ' second ' 's one of thirty-one 
That make my c first ' alway — 

The time to play, the time to work, 
And do the good you may. 

My * whole "sa* second ' of my * first * : 

*Tis then a girl may go 
And be a queen, and wear a crown, 

For just an hour or so ! 



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P.T.O 




May-day 



XIX 

THEY 'RE variously shapen, 
Though often they are round, 
And like old treasure-boxes 
They \e hidden in the ground. 

And some day they will open, 
And you may see the show 

Of all the jewel colors 

That in the rainbow glow: 

The yellow of the topaz, 

The deepest ruby-red, 
The sky-blue of the sapphire, 

A hundred yet unsaid. 

And, wonder of all wonders, 

These jewel colors rare 
Are free to all the children, 

As free as light and air. 



v^ 



53 



P. T. O. 




Seed 



XX 

MY ' first ' is a step that the light-hearted take, 
And something the hurried and flurried 
folk do ; 
My ' second ' is part of a popular game — 
Just half it, in fact, if you cut it in two ; 
My ' third * is made strong with a thousand 
weak things, 
All twisted and twined, in and out, through 
and through ; 
My * whole* is a plaything made out of my 
' third' - 
And when you would play it my ' first * you 
must do. 



& 



P. T. O. 




Skip-ping-rope 



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XXI 

AHEAD have I, but not a nose, 
Nor eye, nor ear, as you *d suppose, 
And yet of service I am full — 
Though you may have to push and pull ; 
No hands have I to clasp and fold, 
Yet many things I fix and hold ; 
Nor any feet, yet out and in 
I bravely go through thick and thin ! 



57 P.T.O. 




Br 



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XXII 

I HAVE no head, no hands, no feet — 
Yet I Ve an eye when I 'm complete, 
And, though it has not any sight, 
And cannot tell the day from night, 
I still can make my way about, 
Through many holes go in and out — 
And always in my path I bring, 
Or take with me, an eyeless thing ! 



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P. T. O. 




Needle 



XXIII 

MY * first ' is the world Columbus reached 
When he sailed out west from the Old ; 
My * second * is what Columbus did 
At the end of his voyage bold ; 

My c third * is something Columbus saw, 
'Twixt the sea and the sky of blue, 

On October the twelfth, that wonderful year 
Of fourteen and ninety and two. 

My ' whole ' is a dog, black, shaggy and big, 

Even ready a life to save — 
The dog that is known as the children's friend, 

And is gentle as he is brave. 



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P. T. O. 




New-found-land 



XXIV 

BY roadside wild, or garden path, 
Alike I gladly grow ; 
By cottage door, or palace gate, 
In yellow, white and red I blow. 

Though I a country child make glad, 
Or some great queen adorn, 

I send my fragrance freely forth, 
But guard my beauty with a thorn. 



@ 



P. T. O. 



XXV 

BY day, by night, 
We come, we go, 
With sound and with light, 
With rain and with snow 

We rainbows wear, 
And heaven we roam ; 

We live in the air, 

Yet the sea 's our home. 



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P. T. O. 




Cloud: 



XXVI 

1* M always rather thin, and often slim ; 
I have a back, but neither head nor limb ; 
And, oddly, I have teeth, yet do not bite ; 
I serve both boy and girl, both man and beast, 
The good and bad, the greatest and the least — 
I smooth the rough, and set the crooked right. 



© 



P. T. O. 



r 



XXVII 

MY ' first ' has often been called 
" Good servant, bad master H -~ 
In stoves, it gives us much good, 
Outside, makes disaster. 

My ' second ' never is good — 

When ice is a-thinning, 
It oft of terrible things 

Is but the beginning. 

My * third ! is fully two-thirds 

A pronoun possessing — 
And yet to hear it so called 

Is really distressing. 

My ' whole ' is red and is round, 
And comes from Chinee-land — 

Yet, strange, we use it to praise 
The birth of our free-land. 




P. T. O. 




Fire-crack-er 



r 



XXVIII 

MY ' first ' is in jar, 
My ' second ' in bowl ; 
My ' third * is in cliff, 

And my ' fourth ' is in knoll ; 
My * fifth ' and my * sixth ' 

Both in comet are — 
And my ' whole ' cleaves the night 
Like a shooting star ! 



© 



P. T. O. 




R-o-c-k-e-t 



XXIX 

MY ' first ' makes half the round world light, 
Yet one by one 
Makes shadows run 
To that great shadow we call night. 

My - second ' — well, it 's either half 

Of something sweet 

And good to eat 
That makes the little children laugh. 

My ' third ' is used to capture things 

That move in air, 

And also where 
They go with fins in place of wings. 

My - whole ' 's my * second ' plus my ' third/ 

And when in place 

It hides the face, 
Nor lets my * first * shine in, I 've heard. 



© 



P. T. O. 




Sun-bon-net 



XXX 

WHEN new, it is all the time opening and 
shutting ; 
When older, *t is oftener busy in cutting ; 
Older still, it may lie, shut tight as a locket, 
Forgotten at last in some old jacket pocket. 



V (g) P-T.O. 



J 




Jack-knifi 



XXXI 

MY ' first * is a food that is salted and smoked, 
And by some is thought very good ; 
My * second " *s a name for make-believe things, 
Like scarecrows and nutmegs of wood. 

My ' whole " like the nest of an oriole hangs, 
A-swing from the branches of trees, 

And invites the tired and lazy folk all 
To sleep or to rest at their ease. 



© 



P. T. O. 




Ham-mock 



XXXII 

THE * first * is what the chickens do 
When they come out of eggs ; 
The * second * is the French for " and " 

The c whole * can pound in pegs — 
For, though it 's mostly like an ax, 

It 's like a hammer, too : 
I know the name of it quite well — 
Do you, and you, and you ? 




« 

A 



P. T. O. 



9 




Hatch-et 



XXXIII 

I LIVE in the house with Tommy, 
Though nobody bids me stay — 
Indeed, every one of the family 
Would like to drive me away. 

I woke up, they say, the Baby, 

Asleep in the Grandma's lap ; 
I spoiled, so I heard him tell Grandma, 

The Grandpa's afternoon nap. 

They drive me away from table, 

Away from the window, too ; 
They whisk me from books and from pictures, 

And scold, whatever I do. 

So Tommy was set to catch me ; 

And, oh, how Tommy did try ! 
But Tommy, he never will catch me, 

Because, you see, Ima ! 




81 



P. T. O. 



XXXIV 

MY ' first' is what you will do today, 
When you look at a flower, or boulder 

When you watch a train go whizzing by, 
Or a fleet of clouds afloat in the sky. 

My ' second * is what you did yesterday, 
When you watched the base-ball boys at play, 
When you looked at the last new picture-book, 
Or the photograph that somebody took. 

My * whole ' goes up, and my ' whole " goes down, 
Like lips in a smile, like lips in a frown ; 
Yet, when it goes up, it goes down, too — 
Which seems a bit odd, I think — don't you ? 



© 



P. T. O. 




Se 



e-saw 



A 



XXXV 

GOWNED all in white and capped in red, 
I show you oft the way to bed — 
But if you go not soon to sleep, 
If me at service long you keep, 
Though closed the door and window-way, 
I slowly vanish quite away ! 



85 



P. T. O. 




Candl 



r 



XXXVI 

THE \ first * is in hat, yet not in hood 
The * second * in evil, but not in good ; 
The * third ' is in height, though not in space ; 
The * fourth ' is in mouth, yet not in face ; 
And the ' fifth ' is in you, but not in me : 
Now, what do you think the five can be ? 
I *11 tell you — that each is sign of a sound 
That is sweet or mellow or ringing or round. 



v. 



© 



P. T. O. 




The Vowels — a, e, i, o, u 



XXXVII 

MY * first ' 's not yellow, red, or blue, 
Or any bright and lovely hue — 
And yet, though none of them you see, 
In it all colors blended be. 

My * second * 's hidden in the dark, 
Long years and years, by tough tree bark, 
Until by buzzing saw set free 
For any boy or girl to see. 

My ' whole * is black as coal, or night, 
And yet on it appears in white, 
A picture now, and now a rule, 
For you, and you, to learn in school. 



© 



P. T. O. 




Black-board 





XXXVIII 




s> V 












/ V 




y ^ 








i> % 



& 



^ But who can tell the name of me? 



^ 



© 



P. T. O. 



J 




TriangL 



r 



■ 



XXXIX 

I HAVE no wings, 
And yet I fly, 
With just a tail, 
Up in the sky. 

And when you try 
To pull me low, 

The higher up 
I try to go. 

But when you let 
Me have my way, 

I fall to earth, 
And there I stay. 



,3 



P. T. O. 



9 




XL 

OF course my name I cannot tell — 
That is for you to guess — 
And yet quite near a well you '11 find 
My ' first,' I will confess. 

And father, mother, uncles, aunts, 

And cousins, if you please, 
And brothers, sisters, grand-folk, too — 

My ' second ' is all these. 

When autumn comes, my ripened * whole * 

Quite oft appears in pies — 
Yet may at night scare timid folk 

With flaming mouth and eyes. 



,3 



P. T. O. 



9 




Pump-ki 



in 



_^^ 



XLI 

MY * first ' is the end of some pointed thing, 
A pen or a pencil, a sword or a spear ; 
My ' second ' a singing canary may be, 
Or a hare with a very long ear, 
Or a deer. 

My ' whole ' is part of a boy's winter dress, 
Yet often is used in a boy's winter play — 

It twists round the neck like a red-bean vine, 
And is tied in a knot, in a way 
That don't stay ! 



V. 



Q7) p. t. o. 



9 







XLII 

ALL summer long they stay, high up, 
Each safe within its own green cup ; 
Then Jack Frost turns them golden brown, 
And sends them rattling dancing down ; 
While boys and girls, and squirrels, too, 
Hunt all the leafy hollows through — 
And Grandpa says, a-smiling slow, 
" Great from little grow ! " 

LOFC. 




P. T. a 




Acorns 



r 



XLIII 



MY ' first ' is a nickname for Henry — 
The English so called a big King. 
My ' second ' 's a name for the tide at its ebb, 
For tones that are hushed when you speak, 
when you sing. 

My ' third ' is a short-name for evening — 

More often in verse than in prose ; 
It rhymes with the green of the myriad-leaved 
grass, 
And chimes with the sheen of the hundred- 
leaved rose. 

My * whole * is a night in the autumn, 
When strange things in mirrors appear, 

When fairies and witches and imps fly about — 
If ever they fly, or ever come near ! 



V. 



© 



P. T. O. 




HaMow~een 



XLIV 

MY ' first ' is in time, but not in tune ; 
My ' second * in near, yet not in soon ; 
My ' third ' is in fly, but not in bee ; 
My ' fourth ' is in flood, though not in sea ; 
My * fifth ' is in light, but not in sun ; 
My ' sixth ' in two, and likewise in one ; 
My ' seventh * is in wail, but not in laugh ; 
My * eighth * is in whole, though not in half ; 
And my * ninth * you '11 find, if you. will hark, 
Somewhere, sometime, maybe, in the dark. 
My * whole * is a ship, of lovely name, 
Which sailed, long ago, to fadeless fame. 




103 P.T.O. 



j 




M-a-y-f-1-o-w-e-r 



r 



XLV 

AS big as a cherry, 
But more like a berry ~ 
Inside there are many small seeds, anyway — 
And always (guess well !) 
It is turned into " jell," 
To go with the turkey on Thanksgiving Day. 



(l05) RT.O. j 




Cranberry 



r 



XLVI 

MY * first * all the boys and girls should return 
For the good things they have that they do 
not earn ; 
It is something the penniless even can pay — 
It should follow my * second ' without delay. 

My ' second/ although it leaves one with less, 
With new riches the loser will certainly bless ! 
And my * second * should never be done with the 

thought 
That through it the least of my i first ' may be 

bought. 

My ' whole * is the day our forefathers set — 
The day their descendants will never forget — 
To render the Lord of the Harvest their best 
Of my * first * for my * second * with which they 
were blessed. 



,07 



P. T. O. 




Thanks-giving 



"\ 



XLVII 

EVERY boy and girl longs to possess me, 
Though I 'm no good to any alone — 
Yet when there are two (can you guess me ?) 
They pull me till snap goes a bone ! 




> T. O. I 




Wishb 



one 



r 



XLVIH 

MY ' first ' is cold, yet keeps things warm ; 
My ' second * thin things are, 't is plain ; 
My ' whole * may make a children's play, 
Or block and stop a railway-train ! 



,„ 



P. T. O. 



i yy *■'■"■ j 




Snow-flakes 



XLIX 

IT comes at a merry time, 
And so it rhymes with jolly 
Now guess it, you little folk, 
Ned, Nelly, Will and Polly! 



V 



55. 



P. T. O. 



J 




Holly 



TEN centuries and nine ago, 
In wane of year and month of snow, 
With faces glad and reverent, 
Across Judea's plains they went ; 

And through the night a star led them 
Toward the town of Bethlehem, 
Where in a manger sweet with hay 
The little Christ-Child smiling lay. 

And as they went a great light shone, 
And angels, in a shining zone, 
Sang from the heavens all hushed and still, 
Of peace on earth, to men good-will. 

Now who were they, that wondrous night, 
Who, led by song and white star light, 
With gifts and worship took their way 
To where the Christ-Child smiling lay ? 



115 P. T. O. 





The Wise Men (or the Magi) 



LI 



I AM a lowly humble thing ; 
I serve the peasant and the king ; 
Yet once a year I *m lifted up 
To be good fortune's favored cup, 
For once a year I proudly hold 
A myriad things as good as gold ; 
And once a year there comes to me, 
Deep in the night when none may see 
How all the wonders come to pass, 
The children's saint, Saint Nicholas. 



V © PTa J 




Stocking 



LII 

MY ' first * is long and slender, 
Yet guides and safe controls, 
When horses go a-prancing 
And swift the carriage rolls. 

My ' second * draw no carriage, 

No harness they obey, 
As free they go a-prancing 

Adown the woodland way. 

My** whole * are like my * second f 
Yet once a year, they say, 

They bear, with joy a-prancing, 
A Saint upon his way ! 



@ 



P. T. O. 



9 




Rein-deer 



r 



INDEX 



(January) 



Zero, or Cipher (0) 
"A New Leaf". 
Hobby-horse 
Skates 



Mittens 
Valentine . 
Washington 
Cherry-tree 
February 29th 



Ice . 
Hare 
Wind 
Minute 



(February) 



(March) 



<2 



Page 

17 
19 
21 
23 



25 
27 
29 
31 
33 



35 
37 
39 
41 



r 



Raindrops 
Brook 
Marble 
Bluebird 



May-day . 
Seeds 

Skipping-rope 
Pin . 
Needle 



INDEX 
(April) 



(May) 



43 
45 
47 
49 

51 
53 
55 
57 
59 





(June) 




Newfoundland . 




61 


Rose 




63 


Clouds 




65 


Comb 


(July) 


67 


Fire-cracker 




69 


Rocket 




71 


Sunbonnet . 




73 


Jack-knife . 


^ mm %. 


75 


1 


© 





J 





INDEX 






(August) 




Hammock 




77 


Hatchet . 




79 


Fly . 




81 


See-saw 




83 


Candle 


(September) 


85 


The Vowels — a 


, e, i, o, u , • 


87 


Blackboard 


• • » • • 


89 


Triangle 




91 


Kite . 




93 



(October) 



Pumpkin . 
Tippet 
Acorns 
Hallowe'en 



Mayflower 

Cranberry 

Thanksgiving 



(November) 




95 

97 

99 

101 



103 
105 
107 



INDEX 

Wishbone J 09 

Snowflakes ] ] ] 

(December) 

Holly 113 

The Wise Men (or the Magi) . . . 115 

Stocking 117 

Reindeer 119 



126 



MAR 11 1907 



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